


"What's wrong? What's happening?"

by FearfulKitten



Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [7]
Category: Batman and the Signal (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Batbrothers (DCU) Bonding, Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Batman Bingo, Blood and Injury, Crime Fighting, Duke Thomas is Signal, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kinda, Protective Tim Drake, Sibling Bonding, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake is a Good Brother, Tim patches Duke up after patrol, batman bingo 2020, ish, no beta we die like robins, nothing too graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25963561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FearfulKitten/pseuds/FearfulKitten
Summary: Duke runs into trouble during his daytime patrol, and ends up needing some back up. The resident over-productive insomniac bat picks up the call.(A little bit of Tim and Duke interaction for a nice tumblr Anon :) I hope you like it!)
Relationships: Tim Drake & Duke Thomas
Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852759
Comments: 11
Kudos: 154





	"What's wrong? What's happening?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Once again, I don't know much about Duke (or Tim tbh, I know more about Dick, Damian and Cass when it comes to the batfam), so I hope I didn't butcher the characterization! I really love him as a character, and the more I read on Signal, the more I fall in love with him. Anyways, thank you for clicking this work!

“Uuuh, guys?” Duke said into his comm, watching as a car was thrown over his head and crashed into a building “I think I’m gonna need backup. Is anyone available?”

“On my way.” A voice answered.

Duke wasn’t sure on which of the boys it was; telling their voices apart was hard in normal situations, but with the chaos that had just been unleashed on the streets of Gotham, it was damn near impossible. Oh well. He had bigger problems to deal with at the moment.

Such as the gang who had brought a meta human to a gun fight.

The Signal turned around, looking at the man, about the size of a trailer. He had to crane his neck to stare at his face.

“Man,” He sighed “Why can’t I have _one_ normal patrol?” He dodged the meta’s fist as it smashed through the asphalt, opening a hole next to where the hero was standing “Just one. One normal day, is that too much to ask?” He climbed the man’s arm, trying to reach his neck and hold him down, but soon felt a big hand grabbing his thigh “Fuck. Bad idea.”

The meta lauched Signal to the nearest brick wall, before roaring and flipping over a bus. Duke hoped it was empty. He let his head drop, helmet knocking on the floor with a small ‘tick’, and breathed heavily, trying to recover. He groaned in pain, and the hit must’ve turned his communicator on, seeing as his backup became a little worried.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening? Where are you, Signal?” Red Robin’s voice came through the comm. Duke saw his brother looking for him as he glided to the ground.

“Over here.” He answered, raising a hand.

“Found you.” He said, smiling “Tired already, Signal?” He teased, landing next to him.

“You try being tossed into a wall the next time.”

“Been there. Not fun.” The hero offered him a hand “Here.” Tim helped him up, pulling him into a quick greeting hug “You alright there, bro?”

“Yeah.” Duke stretched his back “This armor is pretty good, huh?”

“Of course it is, I taught Batman all I know.” They both laughed at that “But seriously, that looks like a major hit. Do you need to head home?”

“Nah, I’m fine. Besides, I don’t think you could do this alone anyways.” He teased.

“Yeah, yeah.” Tim pushed him away slightly “So, tell me what’s going on.”

“Two gangs had set up a gun fight. Reasons behind it are unclear. One of them had a meta under their belt, but things got a little out of hand, and now...” He pointed at the scene as the big guy kept throwing things around “Now we have a very angry, not very chatty, huge meta trashing around the neighborhood.”

“And the gangs?”

“Bolted.”

“Classic.” Red Robin grunted, turning his bo staff around “Let’s go.”

They rushed into battle.

“Hey, ugly!” The Signal yelled, making him look at his direction “Won’t you tell us your name?” The guy roared again “Okay, fine! Come and get it then!”

The man was slower than both of them, giving Red Robin more than enough time to hit him over the head with his staff as Duke distracted him. He barely stumbled, turning around angryly. Tim raised an eyebrow, evading his random punches easily and using his staff to try and poke at his face while Duke wrapped a disconnected eletric cable around his neck, forcing him down.

“Yeah, bet you’re not so glad you knocked down those eletric posts now, huh?” The Signal teased, grunting from the effort as the guy trashed around. Red Robin grabbed one end of the cable, and with both of their strenghts, they managed to knock down the other guy.

“Good thinking.” Tim complimented, tapping on his yellow partner’s back, shallow breaths coming from his mouth.

“Thanks.” Duke’s breathing was the same as his “I think I might need to go home now.”

“Yeah.” Tim huffed out a laugh “The cops are on their way. Let’s tie this big guy up and roll.”

...

Duke hissed as he inspected his bruises in the mirror, pulling off his armor. They didn’t seem as painful as they felt; his dark skin hid the bruises pretty well, but the pain was definetly there.

“Hey, Duke are you...” Tim knocked on his door, entering his bedroom, getting a clear view of his brother in his batroom. He still had his Red Robin uniform on “Nevermind. You are bleeding from your back.” He pointed.

“I am?” He asked, trying to twist his body so he could check it, but the movement stretched the wound, sending a piercing pain through his body. He supported himself on his sink.

“Okay, bad move.” Tim said “Hang on, let me help.” He walked towards the boy, grabbing a towel and putting pressure on it “You might wanna sit down.” He leaded him to the toilet, and Duke rested his head against the wall. Tim sat on the floor.

“How did I not notice it?”

“It’s the adrenaline.” Tim explained “Don’t beat yourself up over it. I passed out from the blood loss once, not even realizing I had a huge wound on my thigh.” He laughed.

“That’s a little terrifying, man.”

“Eh.” He shrugged “You get used to it.” Duke let out shaky breaths, in pain “Just a little longer, okay?” Tim tried to comfort his brother.

“Yeah, alright.” Duke grunted, grinding his teeth.

“Shh, shh, shh, it’s okay.” Tim shushed him as he applied a little more pressure “Juuust need to stop the bleeding... Almost there...” He whispered, stretching out some words.

“You don’t have to baby me, Tim.” Duke laughed.

“I’m sorry. I’m not exactly great at this.” Tim said “I’d call Dick, but he had a rough patrol last night and is currently passed out.”

“That’s good. He hasn’t slept properly in days.” Duke hissed in pain again “But what about you? Did you get any sleep?”

“Ahm... I had coffee.”

“That’s not the same.”

“I know.” Tim sighed “But I had stuff to do.”

“Still, you need to rest.”

“Hey, be thankful that I was awake!” Tim said “If I didn’t had to finish that essay, no one would’ve picked up your call.”

“Yeah, okay.” Duke laughed “Thanks for the help.”

“It’s nothing.” Tim dismissed, smiling “I was just being an ass because I know that you’re right. I just really hate having to sleep, y’know? I could do so much with that time.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Duke nodded.

“Okay, you stopped bleeding.” Tim said, pulling the towel away “But I think you might need some stitches.”

“Damn.” Duke whispered, forehead against the cold white tiles on the wall.

“It’s alright. I can do that for you.” He offered “Again, I’m no Dick, but I can make a decent suture.”

“You sure?”

Tim huffed in disbelieve.

“Yes I’m sure I can make a decent suture!”

“No,” Duke chuckled “I mean as in are you sure you wanna do this?”

“Oh.” Tim blinked “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I?” He got up, taking Duke’s first aid kit from his cabinet “You’re my brother.”

Duke swallowed.

“Yeah,” He murmured “I keep forgetting that.”

Tim laughed a little, picking up a washcloth and soaking it in water.

“That’s alright. It took me quite a while to get used to this, but...” He kneeled, using the soft cloth to clean around the wound, trying to get most of the blood out “Once you do, it becomes natural. Trust me.” He ran more water through the towel, wringing the blood out and getting it wet again, repeating the cleaning process “I know this is uncomfortable, sorry. I’m almost done, I swear.”

“Uhum.” He grunted, nodding.

Tim got up again, picking up an antiseptic spray.

“This might sting a little too.” He warned as he applied the solution to the wounded flesh “Okay, that should do it.” Tim went over to the sink one more time, picking up an anesthetic cream “I’m not trying anything injectable because I’m afraid of messing with those. But trust me, this one helps just fine.”

“Alright then.” Duke felt his brother’s fingers moving around the wound, spreading the substance on his skin.

“Let’s wait a little for the effects to start, and then I’ll stitch you up.” Tim sat down behind him, the needle ready.

“Hey man, thanks for doing this.” Duke said “I didn’t mean to be a trouble, but...”

“No. Shut up.” Tim scolded him “You’re my little brother and I take care of you. You’re no trouble Duke.”

The teen swallowed, looking at his own reflection in the shiny wall.

“Well... Thank you anyways.”

“You’re very welcome. But don’t act like this is anything _but_ normal.” Tim answered.

“I mean, I think having a cut on your back from being tossed around like a rag doll by a man twice the size of a regular human isn’t exactly normal.” Duke chuckled.

“Considering the family you’re in now, this is entirely too normal.” Tim laughed with him “Worryingly so.”

“What were you going to ask me when you came in here?” Duke said.

“Oh.” Tim blushed a little “It’s kinda silly compared to this. I’m gonna start the stitches by the way.”

“I’m sure it’s not. And yeah, go ahead.”

“I just... I know that you really enjoy reading and you are really intelligent, so I was wondering if you could proofread my essay for me? You don’t have to, of course, but considering how I wrote it during a caffeine induced high...” He cut himself off, starting to sew his brother shut.

“Of course I can.” Duke said “When do you need to turn it in?”

“... Today. In like, five hours.” Tim blushed.

“How many pages?”

“Seven.”

“Okay.” Duke nodded “I can do that.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Duke smiled.

“Alright, I’m almost done, I swear.” Tim said “By the way, I won’t put any bandages now because I know you’ll take a shower, but don’t try to do it on your own, okay? Head over to my room and I’ll do it for you. Otherwise, you might tear up those stitches and I _will_ get pissed.”

“Fine.” Duke laughed.

“That’s it.” Tim looked at the suture “I think it might be my best work.”

“Thanks dude.” Duke got up “I’ll head over to your room in five.”

“Thanks.” Tim smiled, leaving the room.

Duke carefully examined the stitches in the mirror. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Tim had done a great job, but seeing yourself in such a state is unsettling. At least it was on his back, which made it harder for him to set his gaze upon it. It wasn’t all that big, and he hoped that he’d heal quickly as he hoped in the shower.

A little while later, he made his way to Tim’s bedroom, wearing black sweatpants, carrying an orange t-shirt in his hand.

“Hey,” He knocked on the open door “I hope this isn’t a problem, but everytime I tried to put on a t-shirt the stitches pulled in a weird way, so can you help me with that too?”

“Yeah, sure.” Tim answered from his computer. Duke noticed he still had his gear on “Come in, sit on the bed, back turned to me please.” He rolled away in his chair, picking up his own medical kit and an ice pack that he tossed in his brother’s direction “For the bruises on your torso.” Duke sat down as instructed, pressing the ice against his collarbone and shoulder.

Tim worked silently, spraying more antisseptic and covering the wound with gauze.

“Alright, all done.” He said “Listen, you must be tired.” Tim started “You don’t have to do this, you can go rest. I’ll be fine.”

“No man, c’mon. You said it yourself, we’re brothers.” He got up, leaning over Tim’s desk “It’s no trouble at all.” He began reading through the pages. Duke didn’t understand exactly what the essay was about, but he was able to pick up on some minor mispellings and fixed some hard to read sentences.

“-tt-” Damian clicked his tongue from the door, examining the duo with cold eyes “Can’t do your own papers by yourself, Drake?” The kid still had his school uniform on.

“Shut up, brat.” Tim answered.

Duke noticed Damian’s expression lacked the usual sparkle. He wondered if it simply meant he was tired or if it meant something else. Something worse. The kid clicked his tongue again.

“Whatever. Where is Grayson?”

“Sleeping.” Tim answered “Why, what do you want?”

“It’s none of your business Drake.” He crossed his arms, leaving.

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Duke murmured.

“Eh, could be worse.” Tim said “And don’t worry, the fact that he didn’t insult you means he’s warming up to you just fine.”

“Weird way to show that.” Duke raised an eyebrow.

“He _is_ weird.” Tim shrugged “Pull a chair for yourself, or you’ll be standing for a long time.”

Duke did as he was told. And as he kept picking apart his brother’s work, pointing out his mistakes and explaining to him how to fix those, Duke felt at peace. Like he had some normalcy back in his life, for once. It wasn’t ideal. He still wished his parents could come back to him, still wished he could get back the life he once had, still wished none of what happened had happened.

But right now, he felt good, and he decided to focus on that feeling. Because he had a family. It wasn’t a perfect family. It wasn’t the one that he’d pick. But it was the one he had, and it was one that wanted him. One that appreciated him, and that wasn’t afraid of asking for his help when needed, but also offered him help when he would forget the he needs it too.

For the first time in a long time, the fear of being alone and helpless faded.

It was nothing but background noise in a very loud, love-filled life.

**Author's Note:**

> Heyy! Me again. I hope you liked the work! If you liked my writing, feel free to request me anything on tumblr, @fearfulkittenwrites. You can also follow me on my personal account, where I reblog a lot of stuff @fearful-kitten01. Please keep in mind that I don't have a beta reader and my first language isn't english, so mistakes are bound to happen every now and again. If I missed anything, point it out in the comments! It helps me improve my writing (and fix my alredy posted works).  
> (Also yes, that part with Damian is some kind of foreshadowing for a fic I'm currently writing, how did you know? Is it because I'm not as subtle as I like to pretend that I am?)  
> I love you all, thanks for reading it, stay safe out there <3


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